Ahmed Ben Bella

Ahmed Ben Bella Arabic أحمد بن بلة born officially on December 25 1916 in Maghnia near Tlemcen in Oranie in the northwest of Algeria then French departments and died on April 11 2012 in Algiers is a fighter for Algerian independence and an Algerian statesman He was head of government from 1962 to 1963 and then the first president of the Republic from 1963 to 1965 Ben Bella is one of the nine historical leaders of the Revolutionary Committee of Unity and Action CRUA at the origin of the National Liberation Front FLN an Algerian independence party He was arrested during the Algerian War but took part in the countrys independence at the head of the FLN and became the first President of the Algerian Republic on September 15 1963 a position he combined with that of Prime Minister He held the latter position from September 27 1962 He was overthrown by the coup détat of June 19 1965 led by his Deputy Prime Minister Colonel Houari Boumédiène He was forced into exile from 1980 to 1990 after having been imprisoned since the coup détat